Automatic attachment for cleaning round carbon or metal lightning-arresters.



W. S. HALE. AUTOMATIC ATTACHMENT FOR CLEANING ROUND CARBON 0R METAL LIGHTNING ARRESTERS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 30,1909.

968,938. Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

fl $5. 'E 'M WIT/VESSES7 INVENTO? ATTORNEYS UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.'

WILLIAM SYLVESTER HALE, OF BUCKLEY, ILLIIS.

AUTOMATIC ATTACHMENT ron CLEANING BOUND CARBON on METAL LIGHTNING- AEREsTEns.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 30, 1910.

Application led April 30, 1909. Serial No. 493,119.

To all whom it may concern:

-Be it known that I, WILLIAM SYLVESTER HALE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Buckley, in the county of Iroquois and State of Illinois, have invented a` effective and automatic in its operation and will not readily get out of order.

The invention consists, generally speaking, of a pair of contacts from the line wire s aced from a terminal-disk, connected to t e ground, by a suitable perforated insulating material, such as mica or the like; and means to automatically revolve the terminaldisk `over a suitable cleaner each. time the receiver-hook is operated.

The invention further consists in the construction and combination of parts, to be more fully described hereinafter and particularly set forth in the claims.

Reference is vto be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corres onding parts in all the views, and in whicii- Figure 1 is a side view of1a telephone instrument, showing my device attached thereto; Fig. 2 is an enlarged'view showing de tails of the operating mechanism; Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the center of the lightning arrester, showing in detail the various parts; Fig. 4 is a vertical view, with the carbon-disks removed, showing the line wire disks; Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the carbon-disk; and Fig. 6 is an end View.

of the thumb-screw, showing the locking means thereon.

Referring more particularly to the separate parts of the device, 1 indicates the casing of a usual telephone instrument, extending through an opening in the side of which Lthere is provided a lever 18.

is a usual receiver hook 2, which ma be automatic or otherwise, and which is a apted to receive a telephone receiver 3 and hold it in position.

l and 5 indicate the line 'ires, which enter through the inside of the casing 1 and are connected in any suitable manner to a pair of contact plates and 7, which arc secured in any suitable manner to the outside of the casing 1, as by means of screws 8. The contact members G and 7 are preferably spaced apart and segmental in contour, and surround a suitable binding-post 9, to which is attached in any well-known manner a ground-wire 10. ,The bindingpost- 9 is preferably provided with a screwthreaded end, on which is adapted to be adjustably secured a spacing-piece 11, which extends into an opening 12 in the center of a terminal-disk 13, supported by said spacing-piece 11. The disk 13 may be of a suitable lnetal or of carbon.- The terminal-disk 13 is spaced fro1n the contacts (i and 7 by a suitable insulating material, which preferably consists in .1 perforated mica plate 14, suitably secured in any well-known manjoined to the terminal-disk 13 by means of a stud 1G, which projects from its inner surface into an opening 17 in the outer side of the terminal-disk 13.

4Pivotally secured to the binding-post 9A Between the lever 18 and the cap 15, there is provided a spring washer '19, which is adapted to yieldingly force the terminal-disk 13 toward the contacts (3 and 7, the spring being backed up by a suitable thumb-screw 20. The thumb-screw 20 is internally threaded and adapted to screw onto the binding post 9, and has on itsv inner face a series of indentations 2l, which are y.for the purpose of engaging the raised locking edge 22 on thc hwcr 18, for the purpose of locking thc tlnunh-screw 20 in any adjusted position.

The lever 18 is provided at its outer end with an open slot 23, which is lined with a suitable insulating material, .and which 1s adapted to engage the receiver-hook 2 and be operated thereby.

The cap l5 is formed on its outer periphery with a serrated edge 24, which is adapted to be engaged by a suitable spring-pressed pawl 25 pivotally secured to the lever l8. The cap 15, and the terminal-disk 13 with it, is thus rotated by every down-stroke of the lever 18, which is operated when the re. ceiver is placed on the hook, or when the hook is pushed down for any other reason, as in ringing up central. The rotation of the terminal-disk of itself would, to a certain extent, clear any carbon-dust'or other particlesv which might accumulate between the terminal-disks and the contacts 6 and 7, but, in order to insure the perfect cleansing of the terminal-disk, there is provided 'a suitable cleaner 26, which is preferably in the form of a brush, secured by means of a fastening device 27 in an opening in the casing l, and is adapted to preferably come opposite the perforations in the mica disk 13, so as to sweep out any foreign particles which may be projected therein by a. disruptive overcharge of the system, by lightning or the like.

The operation of the device is readily Vun-v derstood from the above description. The receiver-hook 2, every time it is forced down, operates the lever 18, and thus, by means of the pawl 25, advances the cap l5 and the disk 13 a part of a revolution, wiping the face of the micad sheet and the terminaldisk over the brush 26, which cleans off any particles which may have accumulated thereon, thus preventing a permanent shortcircuit between the line-Wire and the ground# wire being formed.

Having thus described my invention, lt claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:-

l. Ina telephone, the combination with a lightning arrester of a terminal disk for said lightning arrester, a receiver hook, a

cap for said terminal disk covering the 4 ing a motion of parts of said lightning-ar resterrelative to said cleaning brush.

assess ,means connecting said receiver-hook with said disk adapted to rotate said disk, and a Icleaner juxtaposed to said disk during its rotaton.

5. In a telephone, the combination with a terminal-disk, of a receiver-hook, means operated by said hook adapted to rotate said disk,and a cleaner'juxtaposed to said disk during the rotation thereof.

6. In a telephone, the combination with a lightning-arrester, of a terminal-disk for said lightning-arrester, a receiver-hook, a cap for said terminal-disk, a lever operated by said receiving-hook adapted to rotate said disk, and a cleaner juxtaposed to said disk during its rotation thereof.

Y 7. In a telephone, the combination with a lightning arrester, of a terminal-disk for said lightning-arrester, avcap covering said disk, a receiver-hook, a lever adapted to be operated by said receiver-hook, and means on said lever adapted to rotate said cap.

' 8. In a telephone, the combination with a casing, of a line-wire contact secured thereto, a ground-wire binding-post secured thereto, a terminal-disk adapted to inter- ,mittently connect said ground-wire contact with said line-wire contact, means for rotating vsaid disk, and a cleaner juxtaposed to said disk.

9. In a. telephone, the combination with a casing, of a pair of contacts secured thereto, a line-wire/for said contacts, a binding-post secured to said casing, a ground-wire connected to said binding-post, a rotatable terminal disk juxtaposed relative to said contacts/a perforated spacing-sheet of mica between said contacts and said terminaldisk, ajcap secured to said terminal-disk and adapted to rotate the same, serrated teeth on said cap, a pawl adapted to engage said teeth to rotate said cap, a lever pivoted to said Binding-post` adapted to operate said pawl, a receiver-hook secured to said casing adaptedv to .operate said lever, a springpressed washer adapted to force said ter; minal-disk toward said contacts, and a thumb-screw having locking means thereon adapted to engage a locking edge on said lever and adapted to hold said spring washer to its Work.

10. ln a telephone, the combination with a casing, of a pair of contacts on said casing,

` hook, means connecting said receiver-hook with said terminal-disk adapted to rotate l ing a part of said lightning arrester reI- 10 the latter, a brush secured in said casing opative to said cleaner.

posite said perforations in said mica-disk, In testimony whereof I have signed my and means for securing said brush in posi name to this specification in the presence of tion. two subscribing Witnesses.

11. The combination with a telephone, of WILLIAM SYLVESTER HALE. a lightning arrester for said telephone, a IVitnesses: cleaner for said light-ning arrester, and FRANK W. CLEAVE,

means operated by said telephone for mov- WILLIAM KRUNNVILDE. 

